In a note emailed to USA TODAY on Saturday, Hawass confirmed his resignation from his recently-named post heading Egypt's antiquities ministry. (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/03/zahi-hawass-resigns/1)Excerpts from his note follow:

Yes, it is true. I resigned because of three main things:

1. During the earlier protests, Egyptian youths and the police protected the museums and monuments. Only the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was broken into and, thank God, all the important objects inside it were safe and only a few things were lost or broken. A report of exactly what is missing is still being compiled, however. Magazines were looted, but after initially appearing to get back to normal, the situation has recently become worse and there are many reports of thefts and illegal excavation.

2. Since the revolution, many people have continued to protest over other things, such as against me over jobs and salaries. Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide everything that everyone is asking for. In the Ministry of State for Antiquities, we need money to protect sites and to restore buildings and objects too. We need the money brought in by tourists who visit our sites and museums to fund these things and, at the moment, there are no tourists.

3. Crooks in the Ministry and at the University of Cairo have started to attack me personally. I cannot stand this!

Most importantly, however, is that there are not enough police to protect the sites. I hope that my resignation will put pressure on the government to do something about this and also encourage the international community to do so as well.

The Egyptian antiquities that are on tour at the moment are safe and kept so with contracts. They are completely safe and when the police are back in force, everything here will be protected properly again too.

Hawass, 63, says, "I do not have concrete plans for the future yet. I am still thinking about what I should do."

One hardly thinks the new prime minister would run the unnecessary risk of reappointing someone who is at present so much under a cloud, and who was so intimately associated with the past régime. Obviously, if he were still in power it would help him to defend himself better, á á Berlusconi.

Apparently the Egyptisn Association of Archaeologists has asked him to come back, and there have been demonstrations supporting him by SCA workers today in Giza, Luxor and the Cairo Museum. Wonders will never cease - or many people are not keen on rocking the boat.Report at http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/7069/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Hawass-loyalists-call-for-him-to-stay-on.aspx

Seems the game is over for Hawass as a new Minister for Culture and Antiquities and a new head for the SCA have been appointed.http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2011/03/dr-emad-abu-ghazi-replacemt-for-hawass.html

According to Al-Ahram today (Monday 7/3), the SCA/Ministry of Antiquities will function separately from the Min. of Culture, under the direct supervision of the cabinet; does this mean they don't trust it to operate on its own? No official source is given, and it's all a bit confused, as is everything concerning ZH. His 'resignation' is also a bit unclear; what seems to have happened is that the whole cabinet, including him, was removed from office some time last week. If he did in fact jump ship, it must have been two minutes before he was pushed!What is clear is that he only revealed the (nearly) full extent of the damage at the museum after his protector was kicked out, and gave the latest lurid tale of looting after his 'resignation'. His explanation for the latter is a mere exercise in vindictiveness and b-------.

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I love Ancient Egypt, enjoy backgammon chouette, photography and travel ... and I'm trying to get my late father's photos online. Please visit my main profile where you will also find links to Facebook and more about my interests.
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Kate Phizackerley

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